Saturday, December 12, 2015

Simple word, memory & observation games that will shorten any holiday trip with kids

In
Australia it's summer and school will be out for 6 weeks across the
nation very soon. Many families will be heading for the beaches and waterways
to enjoy Christmas in a particularly Aussie way. For some this will
involve hours of travel as relatives are visited and exquisite coastal
locations sought out. This is always a recipe for children getting bored
and frustrated with one another - "...are we there yet!".

This
post is a repeat of some earlier posts, but I hope that it will be
useful reminder of some great games that will keep children happily
content for hours. I've done posts on
travel games for children before and now seems a good time for another. So whether you will be in a car, bus or plane, or just stuck inside on a wet day, these games might just help.

I've included a
number of games that we played with our children in the car when they
were young, some I used when teaching and a few new ones that I'd love
to play with my grandchildren. Some of the newer games are adaptations of
some activities from a great resource published by Usborne Children's
books, '50 things to do on a journey' (here).
This resource has a range of written and verbal activities that
cover literacy, mathematics and general knowledge. One thing to note about these games is
that you don't have to play every one of them competitively. If you do,
you might need to handicap older children.

1. Sound word categories

You
start this game by agreeing on 3-5 categories (depending on the age of
the children and their vocabularies) for which people will have to be
able to think of words that belong to them; for example, an insect,
flower, person, country, girl's name, action word. Someone chooses a
letter (maybe Mum or Dad to make sure that it isn't too hard) that has
to be used by everyone and is applied to each category. The fastest
person to quickly name their words earns 3 points, the second gets 2 and
the third 1. So for the letter 'f' and the three categories insect,
country and girl's name you could say fly, France and Fiona. A parent
usually acts as the timer.

2. Top 6 (or 10 if your children get to be good at it)

This
activity is a variation on the previous 'Sound Word Categories'. You
vary it by choosing a category and then seeing if someone can list 6-10
words that fit the category. For example, think of 10 car names, dogs,
books, insects, snakes, footballers etc. The person who thinks of the
most words in a category wins.

3. Rhyming words

Pick
a word that is easy to rhyme with other real words. Each person takes a
turn. The winner is the person who is the last one to think of a
rhyming word. For example, heat, seat, meat, bleat, sleet, neat,
pleat..... If the children are older they can write the words down
simultaneously.

4. Don't say yes

This
is a slightly harder game but lots of fun. One person has to answer
questions and the others get to ask them questions to which the answer
is obviously 'yes', but they must answer every question truthfully
without saying 'yes'. If they do say 'yes', or can't answer, the turn
ends and the person asking the question earns a point. For example,
Karen is asked, "Do you like ice-cream"? To which she might answer, "Most people like milk-based products that are cold." The next person in the car asks a question, but it mustn't be simply the same question. For example, they could ask, "Do you like milk-based products in cones?" To which the reply might be, "Some I like to eat in a wafer case."

5. Spotto......

One
of our family's favourite games in the car was 'Spotto windmill'. We
lived in the country and often drove for 5-6 hours towards the coast. In
key areas there were lots of windmills pumping water for stock. But you
don't have to use windmills; you can spot billboards, bridges, trees,
birds, and animals, almost anything that is common. The game can be
concluded in various ways, such as the first to 30, ending it at a
specific landmark or just stopping when you're tired of it or you run
out of windmills (or whatever).

6. What's your job

This
game starts with someone thinking of a job. Others then guess by trying
to find out details about what the person does, where they work, they
use tools, what skills you need etc. The skill is in asking just the
right questions. Does this person work outdoors? Do they drive
something? Do they use special tools? Can they work alone? etc. The aim
is to see who can get it right. Every person in the car takes it in
turns to ask a question and you keep rotating until someone gets it
right. That person gets to pick the next job and it all starts over
again.

7. Guess my song

Someone
picks a song and they have to hum the first line. Everyone in the car
has one guess then the person hums an extra line if no-one gets it after
the first round. This continues until someone gets the song.

8. Guess the person

One
person in the car thinks of a person everyone knows (e.g. a family
member, TV star, book character, teacher, cartoon character, famous
person), and then everyone takes turns to ask a question about them. Is
it a man or a woman? Are they young or old? Does she have black hair?
Does he wear glasses? Is she famous?

9. I Spy..

This
is a well-known game. It can be varied for young children by simply
asking for categories rather than insisting on letter names or sounds.
So the variations can include: "I spy with my little eye, something
beginning with" 'p' (letter name) or 'p' (sound name) or even, "that is
green". The last variation is a good way to involve very young children
and the categories can be very varied. "I spy with my little eye a thing
that ...." is black...or, a little thing that bites... or, a person who
likes coffee... or, a thing the car has to stop at etc.

10. Back to back words

People
think of words that begin the way the last word ends. You will need to
demonstrate this a few times and it isn't that suitable for children
under 6 years. It might go like this: pot, tree, egg, goat, top, pot,
turtle, elf, fog, goldfish. You can make the game harder for older
children if you like by asking for the words to fit specific single
categories like animals, names, places.

11. Who lives there?

This
is a great game. Wait till you stop at traffic lights or you are
travelling slowly enough to see a house long enough to remember some
details. People take turns adding details to describe who might live
there. This can be very creative or an accurate set of predictions. Each
player builds (plausibly) on the previous person's clues. For example,
first person says, "a mother lives there with her three children". The
next person says, "the children are aged 3, 7 and 16". The next person
says, "their names are, Sue, Pickle and Wobble.". The next says, "Wobble
is named after his Dad (Bobble) who is on a round the world yacht trip"
etc. When people run out of ideas you start again. You could vary this
by choosing a car. The first person might say, "That car has a family of
three children and their parents heading for the seaside".

12. Twenty questions

This
starts with someone choosing an object, person, place, country etc that
others have to identify. The others in the car have a chance to ask
questions (maximum of 20 for each thing chosen). The questions are
answered with a 'yes' or a 'no'. When someone thinks they know it they
can guess. You can score this different ways (or not all). The person
whose word is not guessed can score points as can the person who guesses
correctly.

13. Memory game

There
are many memory games, but a common one involves thinking of things
that are in the car (or the boot/trunk), an imaginary backpack,
suitcase, the kitchen at home, the beach where you'll visit. The people
in the car add an item to a list and the next person must repeat
previous details and add their own. People are eliminated when they
forget an item. So it could start like this: "In the car we have a
radio", to which someone says, "in the car we have a radio and a
steering wheel", which could become "in the car we have a radio and a
steering wheel, plus a pesky sister.....". A parent might write them
down as you progress to avoid disputes.

14. Never-ending story

This
game has two main forms, a single word version and a sentence version.
In the word version people in the car take turns adding to a story one
word at a time. It might go like this: "It", "was", "the", "first",
"day", "of", "the", "monster's", "summer", "camp"....and so on. The
members of the game try to make it impossible to add to the story
because the last word is pretty much the last word.

The sentence version is slightly more complex but just as much fun.

15. Word association

This
game is a bit trickier but can be handled by children 6+. Someone
starts with a word and the next person has to add a word that has an
association. Using just nouns and verbs is easiest. The game ends when a
word is repeated or someone is stuck. You can have winners and losers
if you want but it isn't necessary. Here's how it might go. "Dogs",
"bark", "bones", "kennel", "growl", "fleas", "wag", "tail", "scratch"
etc.16. Who am I?The
first player thinks of the name of someone who everyone will know then
gives a clue about their identity, for example, Big Bird, a relative, a
cartoon character etc. The people in the car then take turns trying to
guess who it is. If they get it then they have a turn at choosing the
identity. For example, if the player chose 'Bob the Builder' they might
start like this: "I fix things".17. Oh no!This
is a great idea for 3-4 people in a car. Someone starts a story with
the words "Oh no!" followed by a simple statement. They might say, "Oh
no! There's a spider in my pocket." People then take it in turns to add
to the story using "but" as their first word to turn a serious
circumstance into a not so serious one, and vice versa. They might add,
"But it is only plastic". To which someone might say, "but it has
dynamite in it". This continues until the players get sick of it or
until everyone agrees that an appropriate ending has been found.

18. Special choices

This
game requires people to choose between two options and give their
reasons. Someone has to come up with the choice. For example, "If I had
to choose between snakes or caterpillars" might receive the responses"
"I'd choose caterpillars because I'm a robin", or "I'd choose a snake to
surprise my teacher" and so on.

Above: Photo courtesy of Wiki Commons

19. Twenty-Five

The
first person chooses a letter or sound at random. Each person then
needs to write down (or say) 25 things inside or outside the car that
begin with the letter. The game ends either by at the end of set time
(say 3 minutes) and the points are tallied. You can score many ways,
such as 1 point for every correct word or 1 for each word and 3-5 for
each unique word.

20. Teapot

This
game starts with one player picking a verb (action/doing word). The
other players in the car then have to ask questions about the verb, but
they replace it with the word "teapot." For example, if the word is
"swim", the first question asked might be, "Do cars teapot?" Of the
course the answer is "No." Players keep asking questions until someone
guesses the verb.

2 comments:

Keyra D
said...

I really love this post. This post does a great job of keeping children learning while having fun over the summer and holiday trips. Children tend to now want to think about school work or learning over a break because they need a rest. Learning can be done in many ways it doesn't have to be done with pencil and paper or in a classroom. I feel that parents who go the extra mile and involve learning where ever they are with their children are do a great job in being an active part of their child's educational process. There were twenty-five games that were explained that all had something to do with literacy which involved words, language, and etc. I had a few favorites and they were don’t say yes, what’s your job, back to back words, and memory games. Most of these games can be tweaked to fit any age group which is very appropriate when you need something quick to keep your children interested. I also believe that games like these keeps children minds sharp to ensure that they are always thinking and not just wasting time. Lastly playing these simple words games gives children a chance to spend time with family while having fun and learning all at once.

Rich literacy experiences from the start!

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About Me

I am a Professor of Education at The University of Sydney, Australia. I have spent a large part of my adult life as a teacher, academic, researcher and senior university administrator. My interests are varied, including how children learn language and literacy, the nature and construction of meaning, curriculum, pedagogy, and adult learning.